Faculty Member

Dr. Jay Halfond

Cost

This course is offered at no cost to first-time online professional development participants from UPCEA member organizations. Enrollments are limited to one individual per member organization. Approval from your institutional representative required. Qualifying UPCEA members click here to submit registration form by 07/01/2022. 

If you are an UPCEA member but do not qualify for this offer, we invite you to register at the regular member rate of $459.00 by clicking the register button in the top right of this page. Not sure if your institution is a member? Check here.

Non-members are welcome to register at the regular course rate of $599.00. Registration deadline is 07/08/2022.

Description

What makes higher education so important in the United States? Why are universities often such a mystery and controversy in our society? What are the key roles and power structure in the university? What are the realities, issues, and future prospects colleges and universities face? This course provides a foundation for those pursuing careers in academic administration -- and an opportunity for experienced professionals to appreciate the context and breadth of institutions beyond their personal and professional experience. 

Topics Covered

• Types of academic institutions in the USA
• Features of American colleges and universities within a global context
• Historical development of the modern American university 
• Evolution of online distance learning 
• The future of American higher education

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate the variety and complexity of academic institutions in the USA
• Appreciate how colleges evolved in an unplanned, largely unregulated, often confusing way
• Appreciate the controversies surrounding the purposes of an academic institution, particularly the constantly escalating costs of higher education
• Understand the evolution of online distance learning and the role it has played in American higher education
• Understand the role of innovation in influencing which institutions will succeed or fail.

Who should take this course? 

This course is designed for professionals who are either beginning their career in higher ed or professional, continuing, and online education, and for experienced professionals who seek a broader understanding of American higher education. 

Format and Schedule 

This is a four week course consisting of about five hours of weekly course work made up of readings, asynchronous activities, and assignments. Additionally, there will be a total of five 60-minute live class meetings via Zoom. The schedule for these live meetings is below: 

Wednesday July 13 at 2:00PM ET: Welcome and Course Overview

Wednesday July 20 at 2:00PM ET: Week 1 Discussion

Wednesday July 27 at 2:00PM ET: Week 2 Discussion

Wednesday August 3 at 2:00PM ET: Week 3 Discussion

Wednesday August 8 at 2:00PM ET: Week 4 Discussion and Course Wrap-Up

Welcome to the Quick Start Guide

This guide is highly recommended if this is your first professional development course with UPCEA. Some tips are provided for navigating the course as well as information about how to obtain technical support. 

Tips for Navigating this Course

• Content pages need to be acknowledged. Once you have read, viewed, or otherwise completed the content, look for the button at the end to acknowledge you have completed the item. Sometimes, this step is required in order to advance to future items in the course.
• Future items may be hidden from view. For example, content for the coming week may not be visible until the course facilitator releases it to the class.
• Some items have prerequisites and do not become available until after you have completed the item it depends upon. Prerequisite items have a grey overlay (making them look translucent) with a lock next to them. When you click on the item, its acknowledgement button will note what item it depends on (see image below for an example).

  

Tips for Working with Discussions

Discussions will take place in CORe, UPCEA's community forum. When you access a discussion assignment, you will see the prompt and a link that will take you to the discussion thread in CORe. If you are prompted to log in, please use the same log in credentials that you use to access the Learning Center. 

You are encouraged to update you CORe profile with a bio and headshot. CORe is a great place to engage with your classmates during and after the course. 

NOTE: Discussion posts are private and restricted to the participants in this course. Your posts will not be accessible on the public CORe forum. 

Tips for Viewing Videos

• Some videos may be arranged in a playlist. A playlist will automatically play all videos in the series in order.
• The playlist will automatically play through all videos after you start the first video.
• You can view all videos in the playlist by clicking on the playlist icon (see image below where the icon is in a blue circle). You can skip to any video in the playlist by clicking on it.

  

For the Best Experience

• Use either the FireFox or Google Chrome browser app for the best experience. The course has been tested to work well with these two browsers. 

Technical Support

• Email: pd@upcea.edu
• Hours of Operation: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm EST. Expect a response within 1 business day.

See what past participants have said about this course: 

"No matter where you're beginning in your journey in higher education, this course has an entry point for you. I appreciated the foundation of knowledge I gained through this course, the networking offered in the synchronous classes, and the ability to deep dive current issues in our field." - Matt DiPirro, Associate Dean, Liberal Arts

"I would recommend this class to professionals entering into Higher Ed or working in a PCO program. It is thought-provoking and prepares you to identify the language and culture of the industry." - Rhonda Beckett, Assistant Director Onboarding and Student Initiatives, Thomas Edison State University

"This class will really help you learn more about the academic structure of the university, no matter how long you have been in higher education. I highly recommend taking this course if only to learn more about how other universities function." - Anna Zblewski, Online Recruiter, Purdue University

"I learned quite a new things about the history of higher education in this class. It was great to hear the different perspectives from other members based from their area of expertise." - Christopher Williams, Sr. Digital Learning Support Specialist, Georgia Tech Professional Education

"(The course) opened my eyes to the many struggles within our American higher education system and the importance of administration and faculty to be more collaborative." - Ron Garriga, Associate Executive Director, US Campus Operations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

"Thank you for a great course. I learnt so much in this course over just this short period. Great instructors, great engagement" - Shani Salifu, Senior Course Designer, MCPHS University

"As someone who just began in Higher Ed Administration, the content was extremely useful."

"I really enjoyed the class discussions. I also appreciated the webinars being recorded so I could watch it when I did not have time to attend."

"The content and hot topics for discussion were spot on and the readings were well done"

"Loved the course. Looking forward to the next one."

"Thank you for this opportunity to connect with peers and discuss these relevant and timely topics!"